Maintaining Law and Order

The Penal Code is a key part of Singapore’s criminal law framework.

It was most recently amended by the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019 to enhance protection for vulnerable persons. New offences were created to deal with the abuse of vulnerable persons, and the maximum punishments were enhanced for offences committed against them.

The Penal Code was also updated to ensure the law remains up to date to tackle emerging crime trends. For example, specific laws on technology-related crimes such as voyeurism were introduced. Majority of the amendments came into force on 1 January 2020.

Public assemblies and processions are regulated under the  Public Order Act. It is a criminal offence to organise or participate in a public assembly without a Police permit.

The Public Order Act was most recently amended in 2017 as follows:

• Organisers of events with large crowds, as well as events which are assessed to be of higher risk, will be required to put in place adequate security measures to protect events against security and public order threats.
• Foreigners and foreign entities will not be granted Police permits for public assemblies and processions that are directed towards a political end, to prevent Singapore from being used as a platform to further their own political causes, or to interfere in our domestic politics.

 
The Road Traffic Act regulates road traffic and the use of motor vehicles on our roads. The Act was most recently amended in November 2019 to strengthen the traffic enforcement regime, and to update our legislative levers to ensure the continued safety of our roads.